Tracking apparel and footwear competitors

Changes that matter in this category

• Seasonal and end-of-season sales, and how deep they go.
• Sitewide codes and "friends and family" events.
• New collections, styles and colours.
• Free shipping and free returns: thresholds and return windows change often.
• Price changes on the styles you compete with.

A note on colours and sizes

Collection pages list a colour next to each price, and a colour is not a product. When a different shoe in the same colour takes a spot, EcomWatchdog reports the product that arrived, by name, rather than a price change for the colour. For a specific style, add its product link with the size or colour chosen.

How EcomWatchdog does it

EcomWatchdog reads each competitor's homepage, sale, new-arrivals and shipping pages, plus the product pages you choose, once a day around midnight US Central. It compares each page with the night before, and a short update is written for each meaningful change: what it was before, what it is now, and the exact wording from their page. Every update is checked against the page before it is saved.

What it can't see

• It reads public pages only: not prices behind a login, in a cart or at checkout, or offers sent only by email or text message.
• Some stores block automated visits. Their pages can't be read, and the app says so instead of reporting "no change".
• Prices are what a visitor in the US sees, for the product option in the link you add.
• Checks run once a day, so a change made and undone between two checks can be missed.
• History starts when you add a store; it can't show what changed before that.

Example update

Questions

Will it report a sale on only some styles?

Yes, with its condition kept: "up to 40% off select styles" is never shortened to "40% off".

Can I follow one size of a shoe?

Yes: choose the size on the store's page, copy the link, and add it as a product. Its price is the one tracked.